Graphic is a soft, cool-toned gray with a silver shimmer and sheen. When applied dry, it has decent color payoff but feels a touch powdery. When applied damp, it becomes more metallic and, as a result, looks lighter. L’Oreal Primped & Precious is similar in color but more metallic. Giorgio Armani #22 is slightly lighter.

Crucible is a darkened cranberry red with red-brown undertones and a frosted finish. It had good pigmentation when applied dry and wet, but it was better applied wet. It was a smidgen powdery dry, and the damp application made it perfectly smooth. Cinderella Rococo is browner. MAC Star Violet is very similar. Maybelline Pomegranate Punk is a bit purpler and a cream product.

While buying an Eye Kaleidoscope is no doubt painful at $95 in a single go, at least you’re getting half an ounce worth of eyeshadow. I purchased mine from Nordstrom, which is sold out, but it’s still available at counters and at other online retailers like Saks. Each eyeshadow is 0.14 oz. in size, which is nearly triple the average full-sized eyeshadow–it’s only $169/oz. (whereas brands like MAC and Urban Decay are $300/oz. and $380/oz., respectively), but some of that is offset by the fact that many of us are unlikely to finish the majority of eyeshadows we own. If you are, though, it’s superb deal!

I’m a big fan of Le Metier de Beaute’s eyeshadow formula, because they’re incredibly soft, finely-milled, and buttery–super dense and richly pigmented–and they can be used wet or dry. They’re also designed to be layered over each other, too, so they don’t turn muddy. The soft textures make every shade a cinch to blend and diffuse around the edges, but the pigmentation means you can get rich color without having to pack it on. Graphic and Crucible felt just a smidgen powdery but not to a degree that it impacted application–I didn’t have any fall out during application despite applying all of the eyeshadows dry. I wore Bauhaus and had it last a full nine hours without creasing or fading (no primer).